Patty Cake
by foxfire222
Summary: Au for AOU. Pietro saves a little girl but must find a way to keep her calm when they become trapped in a room with no way out. (Just a little thing I thought of while watching kids at the park.)


Pietro sped around Kansas City, taking out as many mutated monsters as he could. He hadn't really paid much attention to where the things came from. That wasn't his job. His job was to protect civilians and beat the hell out of bad guys. He had just taken out a group of three monsters in a broken dinner when he saw her. A child, perhaps about 6 or so. She was cowering next to several propane tanks. He also saw the leak in those tanks just starting to catch fire off the grill. He sped over and managed to grab her. But he knew he wasn't going to make it out of the dinner in time so he just headed for the back, hoping to avoid most of the blast. The child in his arms let out a scream as the explosion caught up with them and sent them tumbling forward. Pietro wrapped himself around her like a shell as they were pushed through the air.

He hit something solid and felt something snap. He held his yell in and let out a grunt, not wanting to frighten the child who was already screaming. He held her tight as the world continued to tremble around them. He felt some sort of dust fall over them and heard rocks tumbling near by. And when the only sound was the girl's screaming he loosened his hold. He allowed one hand to run through her tangled blond hair as he shushed her, "Hush little one, you are safe now."

He opened his eyes and looked at where they had ended up. It looked like some sort of storage room. There was dried food covering the floor. But the door had been blocked with large chunks debris. And Pietro saw no windows. The only light was coming from a light in the ceiling that had somehow managed to stay unbroken and working. He tried to move and let out another grunt. His left leg was twisted in a very wrong direction. It would heal in a matter of days once it was set, but Pietro hated not being able to run.

The little girl in his lap whimpered and he saw her looking at his leg as a few tears came from her eyes, "You're hurt." she said in a frightened voice

Pietro turned her chin so she was looking into his smiling face, "Don't worry about me. What about you? Are you hurt?"

She trembled in his grip and bit her bottom lip as she held out her bare right arm. Pietro noticed she was wearing a little blue dress with matching shoes. It was ruined by the dirt now. On her arm was a long red cut. It didn't look to deep but it was still a lot for such a young child to handle well. Pietro kept his smile up as he reached out and took careful hold of her arm. He brought it closer and gave it a long look. After a few tense moments the little girl asked, "Is it bad?"

Pietro gave her a wide grin, "Is nothing but a scratch. And if it leaves a scar, you can tell people you got it fighting monsters." he winked

She gave a little giggle that was like tinkling bells and wiped the tears from her face. She leaned into his chest and wrapped her arms around him, "Thank you for saving me Quicksilver."

Pietro raised a surprised eyebrow as he returned the hug, "You know my name?" he was still a fairly new member of the team. He had joined a whole month after Wanda because of his injuries.

The little girl nodded and beamed up at him, "Yeah. Cause your sister is Scarlet Witch. She's my favorite."

"She is mine too." Pietro replied with a grin

"Is she going to come save us?" the little girl asked excitedly

"I have no doubt that she will." he whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"

She became suddenly serious and nodded, "I'm really good at it."

"I can talk to her with my mind, because we are twins." Pietro said, still in that secretive whisper

She gave a little gasp, "That's so cool."

"Yes it is." Pietro agreed with a little chuckle that pulled at something in his chest. Looked like he had a broken rib as well. He hid his pain behind a smile as he asked, "So, what is the name of my new friend?"

"We're friends?" she asked in astonishment

"Of course."

She beamed again, "I'm Zoe."

"It is very nice to meet you Zoe." he looked around the room, "I think we will be in here until the fighting is over. Where are your parents?"

"They were waiting in the car for me. I had to go to the bathroom." she replied quietly as she clutched his chest a little tighter

Pietro frowned into the top of her blond head as he thought about that. It was unlikely they were dead, as the monsters had been taking people. The others were sure to recover the taken by the end. More then likely her parents were safe. But he didn't say anything that wasn't asked of him when dealing with children so instead he asked, "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"I have a big brother." she said, "He goes to middle school and he knows how to do multiplication." she pronounced her last word very carefully, as if she had practiced it diligently

"That is very impressive." Pietro said with a nod, "Does he teach you things like a good big brother?"

"Sometimes." she wrinkled her little nose and frowned, "But sometimes he's a big dummy and says mean things to me."

Pietro chuckled, "Big brothers are supposed to be stupid. My sister says so." he poked the end of her nose with his finger

Zoe let out another giggle, "You're silly."

There were several minutes of silence before Zoe sighed, "I'm bored."

Pietro hummed, "We could play a game." he suggested, "How about I Spy?"

"No, I don't like that game." Zoe said with a shake of her head, "We should play patty cake."

Pietro blinked, "I am not familiar with that one." he admitted

Zoe's eyes widened in shock, "Really?" Pietro nodded and she smiled a little wider, "Then I'll teach you."

Pietro spent the next half hour learning several different clapping games. He found he really liked them because he always won. His speed made it easy. But he let her win half the time so there were no hard feelings. When someone started shifting the rubble they had stopped. Zoe clung tight to his chest and whimpered. He prepared himself to try and make a break for it with only one good leg if this was the enemy. He held her tightly and whispered reassurance in her ear.

He gave a sigh of relief when familiar red energy swirled through the cracks and floated over to them. Pietro nudged Zoe so she would look up. She gave a little gasp of awe and reached out or the shimmering red light. It twisted around her hand and then moved up to swirl around Pietro's head. It hit him square in the nose and vanished in a puff. Pietro's nose twitched and then he gave a little sneeze. Zoe giggled, "Was that Scarlet Witch?" she asked gleefully

"Yes." Pietro answered, "It is a signal so that I know we are safe. Soon we will be out of here and we shall find your parents."

She gave him a worried look, "And fix your leg?" she asked

"And fix my leg." Pietro agreed. And he really would need to have it looked at soon. He was starting to loose feeling in his toes.

A few minutes later the rubble gave way and light streamed in. Standing in the newly created door was Wanda and Clint. They both looked worried, surprised, and relieved. Zoe hopped out of Pietro's lap and ran over to Wanda. Her little hand took his sister's and she started to drag Wanda over to him, "He needs help." she insisted

"I can see that." Wanda said with a pained little smile as she knelt by her brother while Clint called for a medical team. She put her hand to Pietro's cheek and said, "You always end up hurt because you try to help everyone."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Pietro quipped back with a small grin

She gave a light slap to the side of his face and withdrew her hand, "You are such a stupid big brother."

"He already told me that." Zoe butted in. She had taken a tight hold of Pietro's right hand and sat down beside him.

Wanda gave her a smile, "Who is your new friend?"

"This is Zoe. She is a very brave girl. And she is a big fan of you sister dear." Pietro answered as he gave Zoe's hand a little squeeze

"Is that so?" Wanda asked the now blushing Zoe with a large smile

"Yes." Zoe said as she looked down at her little shoes, "Because you're so pretty and can do magic."

Pietro's heart swelled at the truly happy look on his sister's face. He even saw a slight sheen to her eyes, though no tears fell. She reached out and stroked the girl's hair until Zoe looked up at her, "We should get a picture before you go home. That way you can tell all of your friends that you met the Avengers."

Zoe and Wanda chatted happily, with Clint even giving a brief introduction and head pat to the young girl. When the medic's arrived they hit their first problem. Zoe refused to leave Pietro. Clearly she was still a little afraid, despite Wanda's presence. She had bonded with Pietro. So he had solved the argument by taking the girl from Wanda's arms and putting her back in his lap. He was on an adjustable gurney, his body in a sitting position.

She joins him in the back of the jet that takes them to the Helicarrier. She has to leave when his leg is set, Wanda taking her to get a snack. No one wants little Zoe to hear his scream of pain when the half healed bone is re-broken so they can set it properly. By the time she gets back his leg is in a cast. He notices that someone managed to dig up some new clothing for the little girl. A small red dress with a matching hairband to keep the long blond hair out of her eyes. He give Wanda a knowing smile which she returns sheepishly.

It isn't for several more hours that anyone interrupts them again. When someone finally does, it's Tony Stark. He stands in the doorway for a few moments, a large grin on his face as he watches Pietro play patty cake with the little girl. Only a few seconds after he arrives he motions in two new people. Their clothing is dirty but they appear unharmed. And Pietro doesn't even have to ask who they are because they are across the room in under a second, Zoe held tightly between them. The reunited family shares many tears of joy right there next to his bed.

Then Zoe points at Pietro and says, "He saved me mommy. And he's really good at patty cake."

Pietro is to overcome with joy over the little family to care about the snort he hears from Stark. No doubt he would be hearing jokes about this for the rest of his life, if not longer. But he really can't find it in him to care when Zoe asks for one last game before she goes home. He lets her win.


End file.
